With only months left before the State Duma and regional parliamentary elections, reports of pressure on members of the Yabloko party have begun appearing almost weekly. Party officials and regional branches describe searches, administrative cases, arrests and fines that may seem minor on paper but in practice deprive a person of the right to run for office for a year.
One of the latest cases involves Irkutsk branch leader Grigory Gribenko. He had planned to hold a rally for a free internet in Irkutsk on April 1, 2026, but after refusing to comply with city demands for metal barriers and private security, the authorities withdrew approval. On April 10, several traffic police crews stopped him on the way into the city, searched his car and took him to a narcology clinic. An initial test showed 0.000 promille, but five days later he was told tetrahydrocannabinol had allegedly been found in his blood. A test he took the same day at the private Helix clinic found no drugs.
On April 23, investigators searched Gribenko’s apartment in a case on alleged drug possession. He was detained, and after a court hearing on April 24 he was jailed for 12 days under an article on using narcotic or psychotropic substances without a doctor’s prescription. The ruling also said he must undergo drug treatment.
“I see this as revenge for organizing the rally ‘for a free internet’ and for the subsequent lawsuits against the city administration,” Gribenko said.
According to the party, since the start of the full-scale war in Ukraine, ten of its members have become defendants in criminal cases, 11 activists have served administrative arrests, more than 40 searches and inspections have been carried out, and total fines have exceeded 6.5 million rubles. Another 11 members have been added by the Justice Ministry to the “foreign agents” register.
In spring 2026, courts also began fining Yabloko members en masse under the article on displaying extremist symbols over old photographs and posts. On April 21, Karelia branch head Emilia Slabunova was fined; on April 2, Pskov regional deputy Artur Gaiduk was punished; on April 24, Alexander Shishlov was charged in St. Petersburg; and on April 29, searches were conducted at the homes of party representatives in Yekaterinburg.
The party says the pressure is aimed at keeping anti-war candidates off the ballot and preserving control over regional legislatures, since even a single deputy provides a public platform, the right to file official requests and a path to run for the State Duma without collecting signatures.